Rand Paul

Rand Paul Opposed Synthetic Drug Prohibition To Protect You From Radical Islam

Ryan J. Reilly | February 21, 2012, 10:26AM

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)

Late last year Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) cited the fact that many prisoners convert to Islam as cause for blocking legislation that would make synthetic drugs illegal.

Paul explained in a December letter sent to Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) recently obtained by the Bowling Green Daily News that he was blocking the bill because the "stigma of incarceration can make it practically impossible for many people to find work after they are finally released from prison."

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KY-SEN

American Crossroads' Banker Owns Nursing Home Accused Of Failing To Report Abuse

Rachel Slajda | October 28, 2010, 11:17AM

Terry Forcht

The owner of the bank used by American Crossroads also owns a nursing home that has been charged -- by Kentucky Attorney General and Senate candidate Jack Conway -- with failure to report the sexual abuse of one of its patients.

The Karl Rove-backed super PAC American Crossroads, as the Washington Post noted today, uses a small Kentucky bank for its financial dealings. Forcht Bank, based in Lexington, Ky., is owned by Terry Forcht, who also owns several other businesses, including a chain of nursing homes.

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Guns

'Gun Ban Obama?' Not So Much, Say Gun Control Advocates

Ryan J. Reilly | October 12, 2010, 9:18AM

President Barack Obama and ATF agents

To hear some gun rights activists tell it, President Barack Obama wants to take away your guns and, any minute now, jack-booted federal agents could knock on your front door to collect them.

Such predictions started during the 2008 campaign. "Obama would be the most anti-gun President in American history," screamed a banner at the National Rifle Association's GunBanObama.com. It got so bad that Obama even had to reassure voters he wouldn't take away their guns. Even after the election, gun sales boomed.

You'd expect a President so opposed by many gun rights groups to get high praise from gun control advocates since he took office. But advocates like those from the Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence are far from satisfied with the progress on gun control being made in this administration.

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National Board of Ophthalmology

Colbert Tackles Rand Paul's Rogue Ophthalmology Outfit (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | June 23, 2010, 1:20PM

Stephen Colbert discusses Rand Paul

Last night Stephen Colbert took a look at Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul's dissident ophthalmology re-certification group, which Paul created after a dispute with the national board.

Colbert established his own "USA Board of Ophthalmologist Freedom" to compete with the major existing certifying board, the American Board of Ophthalmology, and the one based at Paul's Kentucky home, the National Board of Ophthalmology. (See TPMmuckraker's coverage of Paul's board here.)

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National Board of Ophthalmology

Rand Paul's Dissident Ophthalmology Group Still Certifying Doctors

Justin Elliott | June 15, 2010, 2:48PM

Rand Paul, Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Kentucky

It seems that Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul's rogue ophthalmology certification outfit, the National Board of Ophthalmology, is still recertifying doctors even though the group has virtually no public footprint.

Ben Smith at Politico reports on the group Dr. Paul founded to protest changes in the national American Board of Ophthalmology's certification policies:

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Rand Paul

Rand Paul Defends His National Board of Ophthalmology In Certification Flap

Ben Frumin | June 14, 2010, 2:18PM

KY-SEN candidate Rand Paul (R)

The Louisville Courier-Journal has a much-discussed story today about Kentucky Republican Senate nominee Rand Paul and his lack of certification from a mainstream ophthalmology board.

As we reported last month, Paul is the founder and president of the National Board of Ophthalmology, a certifying board for eye doctors that has left little public record, and whose legitimacy seems unclear at best. He hasn't been certified by the mainstream board since 2005. He is certified by the NBO.

The Courier-Journal points out today that Paul's board "is not recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties, which works with the American Medical Association to approve such specialty boards."

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Rand Paul

Rand Paul's Upstart Ophthalmology Group Leaves Little Mark

Zachary Roth | May 27, 2010, 11:26AM

KY-SEN candidate Rand Paul (R)

Rand Paul's reputation for marching to his own drummer may extend to his medical career. The GOP Senate candidate is the founder and president of a certifying board for eye doctors, which he appears to have set up as a rival to the existing certification board. But his organization has left little public record, and the legitimacy with which it's viewed remains unclear at best.

In 1999, Paul created a new non-profit organization, the National Board of Ophthalmology (NBO), headquartered at his home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in order to "provide information to the public concerning physicians with exemplary qualifications in the medical specialty of ophthalmology," according to the organization's founding document, filed online with the Kentucky Secretary of State's office. Page One, a Kentucky politics blog, first noted the group's existence last month.

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Tim D'Annunzio

GOPers Try To Derail Tea Party Favorite

Zachary Roth | May 25, 2010, 10:42AM

North Carolina congressional candidate Tim D'Annunzio

North Carolina Republicans are circulating court documents that suggest a far-right Tea-Party-backed congressional candidate claimed to be the Messiah, tried to raise his stepfather from the dead, believed God would drop a 1,000-mile high pyramid as the New Jerusalem on Greenland, and found the Ark of the Covenant in Arizona.

Tim D'Annunzio also has written that he wants to abolish several key government departments, including the IRS. But there's more going on here than just another wacky conservative politician. The effort by GOP leaders to stop D'Annunzio at all costs offers an intriguing test case of their ability to keep control of the party in the face of challenges from the Tea Party wing. Or as D'Annunzio himself has put it: "The power brokers in Raleigh and in Washington are willing to go to any length and use any unscrupulous tactic to try to destroy somebody. They think that they're losing their control over the Republican party."

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Rand Paul

Paul Slams MSNBC 'Bias' (VIDEO)

Zachary Roth | May 24, 2010, 9:51AM

KY-SEN candidate Rand Paul (R)

On the advice of Karl Rove, Rand Paul has been staying away from national interviews since his disastrous appearance on MSNBC last Wednesday, in which he suggested he opposed a key provision of the Civil Rights Act. But he hasn't shut out local media. And in an interview with a Kentucky TV station Friday, the GOP Senate candidate continued his damage control campaign.

Paul downplayed his comments to Rachel Maddow, saying they were part of "a philosophic debate about a moot point." But he also blasted MSNBC for "bias," charging that in the days after his appearance, commentators on the network had inaccurately accused him of wanting to repeal the Civil Rights Act. (On Thursday, MSNBC's Chris Matthews corrected that error.) "I need to be very careful about going on certain networks that seem to have a bias," Paul told WHS's Joe Arnold. "Because it really wasn't the interview so much that was unfair. The interview I think was very fair. But then they went on a whole day repeating something over and over again. It makes me less inclined to go on a network."

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Rand Paul

Rand Paul In '08: Beware The NAFTA Superhighway! (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | May 21, 2010, 1:42PM

Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul

Campaigning for his father in Montana back in 2008, Rand Paul spoke out against the NAFTA Superhighway, encouraging Congress to stop the mythical project that would connect Mexico, the U.S., and Canada and, critics say, deal a fatal blow to American sovereignty. Long a bugaboo on some segments of the Right, the NAFTA Superhighway does not actually exist.

"It's gonna go up through Texas, I guess, all the way to Montana," said Paul, at an event in Bozeman. "So, it's a real thing, and when you talk about it, the thing you just have to be aware of is that, if you talk about it like it's a conspiracy, they'll paint you as a nut."

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Rand Paul

Rand Paul: Economic Collapse Could Lead To 'A Hitler' Coming To Power

Zachary Roth | May 21, 2010, 12:29PM

KY Sen. candidate Rand Paul (R)

Rand Paul warned last year that a worsening economy could lead to "a Hitler" coming to power in the U.S.

During an August 2009 speech at a "machine gun shoot" in Knob Creek, Kentucky, the GOP Senate candidate -- last seen walking back his opposition to a key piece of the Civil Rights Act -- declared that "we are on the precipice of an economic calamity", and asked: "What happens if the entire dollars collapses because we have so much debt?"

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Rand Paul

Paul Has Been Guest Of Conspiracy Theorist Shock Jock Alex Jones (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | May 21, 2010, 9:14AM

Alex Jones and Rand Paul

Kentucky Republican Senate nominee Rand Paul has been a guest on the show of wacky conspiracy theorist radio host Alex Jones multiple times in the past couple years.

For Jones, who runs the site Infowars.com and broadcasts his eponymous radio show out of Austin, 9/11 trutherism is only the beginning. He regularly devotes his show to investigating the Bilderberg Group, the "rise of FEMA," the Bohemian Grove, how to fight the New World Order, etc.

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Rand Paul

FLASHBACK: Paul Campaign Spokesman Resigned Over Racism On Myspace Page

Justin Elliott | May 20, 2010, 2:44PM

Chris Hightower (left), former spokesman for Rand Paul, and his band Commander

Controversy is swirling over Rand Paul's doctrinaire libertarian take on the civil rights legislation of the 1960s. But this is not the first time the Kentucky Republican's campaign has hit a bump in racially sensitive territory.

In December, Chris Hightower, the spokesman for Paul's senate campaign, was forced to resign after a liberal Kentucky blog discovered that his MySpace page had a comment posted around Martin Luther King Day that read: "HAPPY N***ER DAY!!!" above what appears to be a historical photo of the lynching of a black man.

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